This invention relates generally to communications headsets, and more particularly to self-supporting, monaural headsets containing a microphone and a receiver.
Communications headsets can be used in a diversity of applications, and are particularly effective for telephone operators, radio operators, aircraft personnel, and for other situations wherein it is desirable to support "hands free" access to communications systems. Accordingly, a wide variety of headsets have been known in the prior art.
Known communications headsets can be broadly characterized on the basis of several fundamental aspects of their design and function, including: whether they deliver monaural or binaural sound; whether they are right-handed, left-handed or neither; whether they employ an invasive ear tip or a non-invasive loudspeaker in establishing a receiver-to-ear acoustical coupling; how they are physically supported on the user; their acoustical characteristics; and their economic qualities.
Typically in the art, headsets which deliver binaural sound (i.e. ones which have acoustical transducers for both ears) may be neither right-handed nor left-handed, and may utilize some type of headband arrangement to secure receiver elements beside each ear. Although generally providing very stable support for the headset, headbands have the disadvantages that they increase the size and weight of the headset, and tend to be uncomfortable or obtrusive to the user.
Monaural headsets (having only a single receiver situated near one ear) may be quite compact, and therefore may not require the high stability of a headband. Uneven weight distribution can be a problem for monaural headsets, however, since the majority of the headset components are concentrated on one side of the head. Known self-supporting monaural headsets often rely on a molded ear tip inserted into the entrance of the auditory meatus for securing the device to the user. Such invasive eartips have the disadvantages of being uncomfortable and unhygenic. In addition, invasive eartips must conform closely to the geometry of a user's ear in order to be stable and secure, and are therefore typically either right-handed or left-handed only, and may not be optimally effective on all users.
Ergonomic considerations in the design of communications headsets include the comfort of the device, the ease of putting the headset on and subsequently adjusting it for use, the restriction of user mobility resulting from the wearing of the headset, as well as the quality of sound delivered by the device.
Acoustical qualities of communications headsets are often closely dependent on other aspects of the design. For example, the acoustical quality of the sound heard by a user is clearly affected by the nature of the receiver-to-ear seal. Invasive ear tips provide a good seal, but suffer from the aforementioned problems of comfort and hygiene. Non-invasive loudspeaker-type receivers, on the other hand, are more susceptible to acoustical degradation from background-level sound and attenuation of the acoustical wave passing through open space from the receiver to the auditory meatus.
Another acoustical problem results from the arrangement and size of components in a headset. Naturally, it is desirable to utilize microphones and receivers of the smallest possible size and least weight, making the resulting headset as light and compact as possible. Typically, however, smaller components deliver a weaker acoustical signal, and must accordingly be closely coupled to the user. In addition, care must be taken, especially with miniaturized components in close proximity to each other, that the receiver(s), and transmitter of a headset be mechanically and acoustically decoupled. Lastly, the use of acoustic tubes within a headset to carry sound from its source to a transmitter or from a receiver to a user's auditory canal can subject the acoustical signals to undesirable resonance effects and other forms of interference, thus decreasing the overall frequency response and sound quality of the headset.